With Catlike Tread
by ZootyCutie
Summary: Humanization. Oggy was a simple sort of guy, until three unexpected new roommates changed his life forever. Rated T for future themes.


So, I recently became a fan of Oggy and the Cockroaches, and I'm really upset it took me this long to get into it, this show is great! So, after doing some humanizations of the major characters (available on my deviantART page, I'm ZootyCutie there as well), I felt like I could create a pretty good canon for the series using the humanized versions of the characters. Just to let you know, it won't be a carbon copy of the original series, there will be some changes incorporated in it and will draw elements from various parts of the original canon. I own all humanizations of the characters in the fanfiction and the character Madeline, humanized or not. The original forms of characters belong to Xilam. Please enjoy!

* * *

It was a new day in the city of Ridgewood, New Jersey. The sun peeked over the horizon of the subdivision of Bienvenue, a simple little subdivision where every house was the same two-story house with a bright red roof. Well, save for one house smack dab in the middle…

This house was instead a two-story duplex with a bright purple roof. Despite its double housing feature, at the moment, it only had one person living in it on only one side of the building. However, as soon as luck would have it, some new tenants would change this person's life forever.

A loud and annoying combination of an alarm clock ringing and hands clapping filled the air of the bedroom. A few moments after this cacophony started, a moan erupted from the bed right next to the side table that was home to the offending noise. Finally, an arm extended from the covers and slammed the alarm clock, putting an end to its sound. With a yawn, the owner of the arm slowly sat up in bed and stretched.

He was a young man in his early thirties. A fairly large potbelly protruded from his stomach, extending his pajama shirt slightly. Ever so slowly, he opened his crusted-over eyelids, revealing bright green emeralds for irises. He ran his hands through his short bright blue hair to smooth it down a bit, which then allowed his cowlick, which was stark black and double-pointed, pop up. As he rubbed his eyes, he involuntarily brushed against the yellow freckles on his face as well. His name was Ogden Kattz, but everyone that knew him simply called him Oggy.

* * *

Being a weekend, which meant no work, Oggy's day followed a very simple pattern: get ready, eat, watch TV, clean the house, eat more, and watch even more TV. A simple kind of schedule for a simple kind of guy. Now wearing his favorite outfit, which consisted of a grey shirt with a black spiral pattern and bright blue long-sleeves, blue shorts, blue socks, white gloves, and white converses, Oggy was curled on his couch, flipping through channels, catching glimpses of sound bites. A bit of a cooking show, a section of a sports game, a news blip about three lowlife criminals escaping prison. Same old, same old. In fact, so same old same old that Oggy was starting to fall asleep…which meant he couldn't hear the sound of his door being freely opened by someone and that someone walking into Oggy's house without a care…

A snicker was quickly hushed as a shadow loomed over Oggy, who was now fully curled into a slightly awkward position and fast asleep, as evidenced by the light snore and drool escaping from his mouth and onto his cheek. Very carefully, a gloved hand slowly slid down and cupped the back of Oggy's neck. This suddenly sent a shock of nerves through his entire body, causing the once-sleeping man to wake up in a panic, leap off of the couch, and grab the nearest item near him and attack the offender. This happened to be a bright red plastic flyswatter, which was rapidly whacked on the intruder, who merely grinned and chuckled at Oggy's antics.

"You haven't changed at all, have you Oggy?" The person, who spoke with a slightly deep and raspy voice, calmly said, a chuckle still in their voice. Once Oggy quit hitting the person with the flyswatter, he slowly looked up to see who exactly he was hitting.

Standing a few inches higher than him was a young man a few years older than him. He was heavily muscled and had a faint suntan at the moment, which did nothing to mask his own yellow freckles (which he sported more of than Oggy). He had forest green hair that was cut a bit above his shoulders in a (very sloppy) attempt to create a mullet, yet only succeeded in going every which way and left a few stray single hairs. He had bright yellow eyes with dark rings around them and was slightly unshaven, sporting a 5 o'clock shadow that had grown in by a few days. He wore a peach colored tank top with a pair of dog tags dangling from his neck, forest green cargo pants, white and green combat boots, and white fingerless gloves. Once he took this all in, Oggy's nervous expression grew into a happy one, as he happily hugged into him, as he merely petted Oggy on his head and stifled another laugh.

* * *

"Jack, why didn't you tell me you were coming home today?!"

"What, I said 'I'll see you tomorrow' in the last web chat, right?"

"I thought you meant we were going to have another video chat today!"

"Gotcha good, didn't I?"

Turns out the unexpected visitor was Oggy's cousin, Jack. While he was not a blood relative, being adopted with his older biological sister by Oggy's aunt and uncle a couple years before Oggy was born, they were practically close as brothers. He had just recently been stationed in the Middle East for the past year, having just arrived at Oggy's house via a very late night flight. While in reality he had an apartment in downtown New York, which was a bit further than a half hour drive for him, he preferred hanging out at his cousin's house, just to be near company…and because it meant some free food. He had recently coerced Oggy into getting him a soda, and now the two of them were enjoying their drinks, both sitting on the couch and talking, the television now making background noise only.

"So," Jack started, and then took a sip of his soda. "You get those advertisements done with?"

"Yep." Oggy said, swirling the soda inside his can. "I'm going to post them once work starts up again. Hope someone will respond to them at least."

"I still don't see why you just sell the duplex and just move into one of the smaller houses near here." Jack sighed, finishing off his soda and crushing the can. "Heck, you could move into my complex, that wouldn't be so bad."

"I grew up here, Jack." Oggy pointed out. "I'm not just picking up everything and leaving. My family was the only one to permanently stay in this house, even when all the other ones moved out from the other side."

"Sure, whatever." Jack said, rolling his eyes and sinking in further in the couch, then laughing a bit. "Hey, remember that one family that lived here? You were in elementary school, there were those kids, the oldest didn't like you, tried to get the others to hate you too, but they were still babies?"

"Now that you reminded me, yes." Oggy said, rubbing his temples. "They only stayed for a few months and moved to the city, right? We never heard from again after that."

"Yep." Jack said, and then turned his attention to the television. Another news blip for the escaped criminals was now playing, drawing him in, while Oggy continued to focus on his drink.

"Hey, Oggy," Jack said, catching his cousin's attention. "You hear about those three criminals that escaped the prison downtown?"

"I don't think I've heard this one yet!" Oggy said, growing eager. "Does the punch line involve a rubber chicken and a stick of dynamite?"

"No, you idiot." Jack said, slightly angry, as he lightly slapped Oggy on the back of the head. "This isn't a joke! There's criminals, the city's giving out an award for their capture, we're gonna get rich and famous!"

"You mean YOU are." Oggy sighed. "I'm not getting involved in one of your 'defeat the villains and gain power' schemes again."

"You lack foresight, Oggy." Jack sighed, standing up and starting to head out. "These guys could be lurking anywhere in the city, ready to pounce! You gotta be on your guard! You can't think that everything's going to come up roses if you just lay around doing nothing!"

"A lot of great people have done that." Oggy called back, laying down and watching his cousin leave. The roar of his monster truck and the quick passage of it signaled his departure.

"I'm sure a lot of people have done that." He said to himself. "I…just can't think of anyone at the moment."

* * *

Once the weekdays started, that meant (unfortunately) work started as well. With a satchel full of advertisements, Oggy started out earlier than usual into the city on his trusty motor scooter, placing an advertisement on every tree, lamppost, and store window that he could find. Despite being fast and efficient, he forgot one key detail: his job. Once he realized it, he had to get there. And fast. With the pedal down as fast as he could (and as fast as the speed limit would allow), he screeched into the employee parking lot of a department store, raced into the employee lounge, and quickly swiped his employee card. With mere minutes to spare, he wasn't late…but he was really pushing it. Jack, who also had a job there, was simply staring at his cousin with a "seen it before" glare, while Oggy nearly hyperventilated from breathing too hard.

"The evidence is piling up." Jack dryly said.

"Wh-what evidence?" Oggy wheezed out, as he struggled to pull on his worker vest.

"That you're insane." He snickered, while Oggy silently rolled his eyes. The sound of the water cooler being used suddenly filled the air and a small cup of water was soon placed in Oggy's hand.

"Thank you, Oli-i-i-i-"

As soon as Oggy noticed who gave him the cup, his voice went stuttering, and he started sweating again, this time out of nervousness. Right in front of him was his next door neighbor, coworker, and not to mention the girl he's got the biggest crush on: Olivia Casper.

Olivia was everything that Oggy found beautiful: her eyes were as blue as the sky, her pink freckles almost giving her a natural blush, her hair was mainly beige, with the exception of a very high ponytail, which was black and held by a yellow ribbon tied into a large bow. She was currently wearing a short-sleeved beige blouse with a light pink Peter Pan collar and a small section of the shirt's bottom being pink as well, a beige skirt that ended at her knees, beige socks with lace on the top that ended a few inches below her skirt, white Mary Janes, and petite white gloves. Like Jack and Oggy, she too was currently wearing a work vest with a nametag on it.

"Are…you okay, Oggy?" Olivia nervously squeaked out, while Jack tried (and practically failed) at stifling his laugh.

"I-I'm fine!" Oggy said, blushing up a storm, and quickly swallowing his entire cup of water, causing himself to choke, and forcing Jack to whack him a few times on the back.

"If you say so…" Olivia said, and walked further back into the lounge, all while Oggy embarrassedly laughed, and Jack simply shook his head in disbelief. Suddenly, Oggy jerked up.

"Oh! Right! The thing!" He exclaimed, as he rushed towards the lounge's bulletin board, and placed one of his flyers on it, slightly obscuring a memo to keep in mind to put up the help wanted sign and accidentally knocking a small poster down. Jack picked it up and stared at the three faces that graced it, the three faces that were wanted by the police. Suddenly, a bell went off in the room, signaling the start of the work day. The workers filed out to their respective places, though Jack and Oggy lingered behind a bit, Oggy noticing the poster his cousin was holding.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal of it." Oggy said, and then pointed something out. "They're hardly even on the wanted list, there's not even a big reward for them. I mean, what's the worst they can do?"

* * *

"Boys, we pull this off, this'll be the best thing we've done!"

In a dingy alleyway deep in the middle of the city, three young men were hiding out. They were brothers, though their ages hardly classified their height. The one that spoke, the oldest, yet also the shortest, had short cut bright purple hair with two thick black stray hairs that stuck out like antenna, and mismatched eyes, his left eye yellow, his right a reddish-pink. He wore a magenta long-sleeved shirt with thin black stripes, black pants, black cheaply made leather shoes, white gloves, a black tuque, and a black domino mask. He gave off a proud grin that showed off a mouth of pointy pearly whites.

"You've said that a few times, Joey." Another male voiced piped up, sounding a bit bored, as the sound of a newspaper flipping pages filled the air.

The second voice was the middle child, yet towered over both of his brothers, and also the skinniest of the three. He had light green hair that was cut a few inches higher than his shoulders with two long and thin hairs that were a bit tangled and loose and his eyes were the same reddish-pink color. He too wore the same mask, gloves, pants, shoes, and tuque as his older brother, though his tuque was slightly large for him, making the top portion of it flop backwards. He wore a turtleneck sweater with the same black stripes, only with a light green neck and grey body.

"Marky," Joey said, staring up at his brother and trying to keep a very forced grin. "Who's the leader of this group?"

"You are." Marky replied, not looking up from the paper.

"Exactly!" Joey exclaimed. "And what is coming to New York City within the next month?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me say! I wanna say!"

The two turned their heads towards the unexpected voice, coming from their larger yet younger brother. He was only a bit taller than Joey, but made up for it in his girth. He had short orange hair with two thick black strands and bright green eyes, and also wore the same tuque (which was a bit snug on his head), mask (which had the strap stretched to its full capacity), gloves, pants, and shoes as his older brothers. He had two gapped buck teeth that stuck out from the top and was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with the same thin black stripes to differentiate him even further. He was currently sitting on the lid of a large dumpster, the one next to it being already open, and, by the looks of it, dug through.

"All right then, Dee Dee." Joey said, a smirk growing on both his and Marky's faces. "Humor us. What does come to New York City in the next month?"

"Um…" Dee Dee started, scratching his head a bit and concentrating, until the thought slowly came to him. "The…taco truck…?"

While Marky laughed his head off, Joey angrily growled and rubbed his temples.

"No, you dolt." He said, trying to (and pretty much failing to) hold his anger in. "We are talking about the object that'll be part of the best heist EVER!"

"And why are we doing this again?" Marky asked, scowling. "We just broke out of jail, why would we do something that puts us back in?!"

Giving off an angry sigh, Joey pulled a poster off of the brick wall in the alleyway and threw it at Marky, who quickly caught it.

"Read that for us won't you, Marky?" Joey said, crossing his arms.

"All right, let's see…" Markey mumbled, shifting the paper until he got a clear view and began. "WANTED. SORT OF. NOT REALLY: Joey, Marky, and Dee Dee Rochin, collectively known as "The Cockroaches". Wanted…we guess…for petty robberies. Reward is minimal, we really don't care if you turn these guys in, they're really just nuisances."

"You see?" Joey said, emphasizing it by pointing his arms in the direction of the poster. "We're the laughing stock of the thief world! Even the police could care less about us! And that's why we've gotta make this heist! To make a name for ourselves and prove that we're not as harmless as they think we are!"

"How we gonna do that?" Dee Dee asked.

"Once again, Deeds, with this scheme. Marky, newspaper?"

On cue, Marky pulled out the newspaper again and flipped to the page, then started to read.

"Coming to New York City: a rare find! This diamond found is one of the largest found to be in such good condition. It will be on display at the museum for the next two years starting next month. As of now, estimated wealth is unknown, but the diamond will be under tight security and watch throughout its stay here."

"And that's where we'll come in." Joey added. "We've got two years to pull this off, so we'll be able to make it the biggest and the best in that amount of time!"

"Two years of staying on the streets to wait?" Dee Dee asked, as he scrambled off of the dumpster. "We can't stay in this alleyway! I'll waste away before that!"

"For once, Dee Dee's right." Marky added. "Where are we even supposed to stay for this? Two years is going to be a long wait. It's not like a place is going to run right into us."

"And that's why we'll have to run into it first!" Joey concluded. He then noticed on the sidewalk a sheet of paper that had blown off of a post, still sticky with tape and picked it up. As he scanned it, his large grin grew further. He then faced his younger brothers, who perked up at his smile.

"Boys, get things we can pawn off and start looking you're best. We've got a tenant interview tomorrow!"


End file.
